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Kishore reiterates: S’pore’s statements must be more prudent

SINGAPORE — A day after his commentary on how small states should behave like small states drew criticism, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) dean Kishore Mahbubani has defended his assertions and reiterated that Singapore should be more prudent with its public statements.

Professor Kishore Mahbubani denies his article  was an attack on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, a point the professor said was raised by some senior officials. TODAY File Photo

Professor Kishore Mahbubani denies his article was an attack on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, a point the professor said was raised by some senior officials. TODAY File Photo

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SINGAPORE — A day after his commentary on how small states should behave like small states drew criticisms from a minister and senior diplomats, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy dean Kishore Mahbubani has defended his assertions and reiterated that Singapore should be more prudent in its public statements. He also denied his article published in The Straits Times (ST) on Saturday was an attack on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, a point the professor said was raised by some senior officials.

“I wrote this article as I believe that some of our senior officials have been imprudent in their public statements. As a result, there have been some serious mishaps in our external relations,” Professor Mahbubani said in a note to media editors on Monday.

“The hard work done by our founding fathers has been squandered. Our geopolitical space has shrunk,” he added, without elaborating. “My criticisms have hit home. In response, some of these senior officials are floating a canard that this article is an attack on PM because it appeared on the weekend before the parliamentary debate today.”

Prof Mahbubani said that in fact, he had submitted his article to ST several weeks ago, and it had chosen to run it last weekend.

“Hence, it is obviously not an attack on PM. By floating this canard, the officials are distracting attention from their own contributions to our problems.”

Prof Mahbubani did not name the officials.

Ambassador at Large Bilahari Kausikan had on Sunday morning written a sharp rebuttal on Facebook to the commentary, calling it deeply flawed and dangerously misleading.

In a subsequent comment on Facebook responding to someone defending Prof Mahbubani’s commentary, Mr Kausikan wrote: “I disagree, it is a thinly disguised attack on PM.”

Asked by TODAY for his response to the professor’s explanation on the issue, Mr Kausikan said: “I accept that he may not have intended it as an attack on PM but many read it that way. The timing may be determined by ST but the wording is determined by Kishore. I am glad he has clarified that was not his intention.”

“But that does not negate my profound disagreement to the approach he thinks we should take. He should read Heng Chee’s piece in today’s ST. I entirely agree with her far more balanced approach,” referring to Ambassador at Large Chan Heng Chee’s piece titled “Striking a balance between principle and pragmatism.”

Mr Kausikan added that the mentality and approach suggested in Prof Mahbubani’s article coincides with what some major powers have been promoting in an effort to influence Singaporeans politically.

“I am not suggesting that Kishore is writing at anyone’s behest -- indeed I am absolutely sure he is not -- but this is a cast of mind that cannot be allowed to take root as it will set our country down a very dangerous path. As a Singaporean, Kishore could have more impact than any external party. This is not just an intellectual debate,” he said.

“That is why I decided to set aside considerations of personal relations and vigorously, perhaps even brutally, rebut him on FB which is a potent new medium of communication. Ordinarily I would not have bothered.”

In his commentary, Prof Mahbubani had said that the move by four Arab states to cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar holds lessons for Singapore. The first lesson was that “small states must behave like small states”, adding that in the post-Lee Kuan Yew era, Singapore should change its behaviour to exercise discretion.

“We should be very restrained in commenting on matters involving great powers,” he said, noting that the Republic should be “more circumspect” on the international tribunal ruling on the South China Sea against China.

“When I hear some of our official representatives say that we should take a ‘consistent and principled’ stand on geopolitical issues, I am tempted to remind them that consistency and principle are important, but cannot be the only traits that define our diplomacy,” he added.

In his rebuttal on Sunday, Mr Kausikan said Prof Mahbubani’s point that small states must always behave like small states was “muddled, mendacious and indeed dangerous”.  Homes Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam on Sunday said Mr Kausikan’s response was brilliant as he slammed the professor’s piece as ‘‘intellectually questionable’’, adding that Singapore did not get to where it is by thinking small.

Ambassador at Large Ong Keng Yong also told TODAY he was uncomfortable with Prof Mahbubani’s point as it could give rise to an interpretation that a small country like Singapore cannot speak out against certain positions of big countries on issues even when Singapore may suffer a disadvantage.

Mr Kausikan’s Facebook post rebutting Prof Mahbubani has since been widely shared, garnering over 1,500 likes.

“I suddenly found that I had 10,000 or so followers,” Mr Kausikan told TODAY. 

“I don't think that all of these people -- whom I thank --unreservedly agree with me. I don't expect that. But the numbers at least suggest I have got them thinking about the dangers of accepting subordination as a norm of our foreign policy and reminded them of a fundamental principle,” he added.

“We are not imprudent -- we do not finance foreign wars or support groups and individuals dedicated to undermining our neighbours' systems of government --  but we must stand up for the autonomy to define and pursue our own national interests rather than have them defined for us, even if this displeases major powers. This is an existential interest intimately linked to the core values that make Singapore, Singapore."

But Prof Mahbubani stuck to his guns on Monday, noting that responses to his piece reflect the state of intellectual discourse in Singapore.

“Some of the responses have been civil. Some have not been,” he said, enclosing both his commentary and another written by an LKYSPP alumni to rebut “uncivil responses” to the commentary.

Prof Mahbubani added:  “I hope you will agree with my big point that Singapore needs to become more prudent in its public statements.”

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